System and methods for remotely recovering and purging data from a wireless device in a communications network

ABSTRACT

A system and methods are provided for remotely recovering and purging data from a wireless device in a communications network. The system includes a wireless device capable of executing a data recovery/purge application program for receiving a message from a communications device in the network. The application program retrieves the data in the wireless device, purges the data from the wireless device, and sends a return message, including the data retrieved from the wireless device, to the communications device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to data communications. More particularly,the present invention is related to remotely recovering and purging datafrom a wireless device in a communications network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wireless devices for communicating and storing voice and data arebecoming commonplace. Users of wireless communication devices areincreasingly using their wireless devices to send electronic mail(“E-mail”) as well as store personal data, such as contact lists,calendar information, to do lists, and other notes. Much of this datamay be considered as private to a user (e.g., passwords, credit card orbank account numbers, telephone numbers, addresses, and calendar orschedule information) and may result in undesirable consequences for theuser if the wireless device is lost and falls into the wrong hands.

Many wireless communication devices permit the user to enable a softwarelock of the device, which prevents use of the device unless a passwordis entered, and thus protects user data. However, use of this lockingfeature typically requires additional steps that the user mightotherwise not wish to take in operating their device, such asremembering and entering a multi-digit code every time the device isturned on or when an attempt is made to access the user's private data.As a result, the wireless device's locking feature is frequently unused.Moreover, if a device is stolen or lost, even if the locking feature isin place, the user suffers the inconvenience of losing his or her dataand wondering if the device had been previously locked. It is withrespect to these considerations and others that the various illustrativeembodiments of the present invention have been made.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with illustrative embodiments of the present invention,the above and other problems are solved by a system and methods forremotely recovering and purging data from a wireless device in acommunications network. A user sends a data message containinginstructions for recovering and/or purging data to a remotely locatedwireless device. An application program resident on the wireless deviceis executed upon receiving the data message and recovers and/or purgesuser data according to instructions contained in the message. Once theuser data has been recovered and purged from the wireless device, theapplication program generates a return message including the recovereddata. By remotely initiating data recovery and purging operations, auser may prevent personal data from being accessed on a lost or stolenwireless device.

According to one aspect of the invention, a system is provided forremotely recovering and purging data from a wireless device in acommunications network. The system includes a communications device forsending a message to the wireless device and a data recovery/purgeapplication program resident in the wireless device. The message may bean electronic mail message or a text message. The application program isoperative to receive the message from the communications device andparse the message for request data. The request data includes a requestto recover data stored on the wireless device, a request to purge thedata from the wireless device, and identification data for identifyingthe wireless device.

The application program is further operative to determine whether theidentification data in the received message matches identification dataresident in the wireless device and, if the received identification datamatches the identification data resident in the wireless device, thenthe application program is operative to retrieve the data in thewireless device, purge the data from the wireless device, and send areturn message, including the data retrieved from the wireless device,to the communications device. The system may further comprise a datanode in communication with the communications device and the wirelessdevice. The data node may be a computer operative to communicate themessage to the wireless device and the return message to thecommunications device. The system may further include a database incommunication with the data node for storing profile information relatedto the wireless device.

The data node may be further operative to receive a wireless device IDassociated with the wireless device and access the database to map thereceived wireless device ID to the stored profile information related tothe wireless device. The stored profile information includes thewireless device ID, a first address for sending the message to thewireless device, and a second address for sending the return messagefrom the wireless device.

The invention may be implemented as a computer process executed on awireless device, a computing apparatus, or as an article of manufacturesuch as a computer program product or computer readable media. Thecomputer program product may be a computer storage media readable by acomputer system and encoding a computer program of instructions forexecuting a computer process. The computer program product may also be apropagated signal on a carrier readable by a computing system andencoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computerprocess.

These and various other features, as well as advantages, whichcharacterize the present invention, will be apparent from a reading ofthe following detailed description and a review of the associateddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a network diagram illustrating aspects of a datacommunications network utilized in and provided by the variousillustrative embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a network diagram illustrating aspects of a voicecommunications network utilized in and provided by the variousillustrative embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3A is a flow diagram illustrating aspects of a process forrecovering data, purging data, and performing other operations withrespect to a wireless device in the data communications network of FIG.1, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3B is a flow diagram continuing the process of FIG. 3A according toan illustrative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4A is a flow diagram illustrating aspects of a process forrecovering data, purging data, and performing other operations withrespect to a wireless device in the voice communications network of FIG.2, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4B is a flow diagram continuing the process of FIG. 4A according toan illustrative embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other problemsare solved by a system and methods for remotely recovering and purgingdata from a wireless device in communication with a data network. A datamessage containing instructions for recovering/purging data stored onthe device may be sent to the wireless device. The data message may bereceived by a recovery/purge application resident on the wirelessdevice. Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals representlike elements, various aspects of the present invention will bedescribed. In particular, FIGS. 1 and 2 and the corresponding discussionare intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitablecommunications network environment in which illustrative embodiments ofthe invention may be implemented.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an illustrative data communications network forperforming an illustrative embodiment of the invention will bedescribed. As shown in FIG. 1, communications network 100 includescommunications devices 102 for sending and receiving data over a network114. The communications devices 102 include, for example, a wirelesshand-held computer 104 and a personal computer 106. According to anillustrative embodiment, the wireless hand-held computer 104 utilizes awireless data gateway 108 to send and receive data messages over thenetwork 114. As will be described in greater detail below, thecommunications devices 102 may be utilized to send data messages overthe network 114 to recover and/or purge messages from lost or stolendevices in the communications network 100. The data messages mayinclude, for instance, electronic mail (“e-mail”) messages, shortmessage service (“SMS”) messages, text messages, or any other messagetypes known to those skilled in the art which may be communicated in acommunications network. Those skilled in the art will appreciate thatthe illustrative embodiments of the invention are not limited to thehand-held computer 104 or the personal computer 106, but may bepracticed with other communications devices including, but not limitedto, two-way paging devices, voice over Internet protocol (“VOIP”) orInternet telephones, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.

The network 114 interconnects communications devices 102 with a networkserver computer 112 for managing data traffic and a web server computer126 for delivering web pages to connected devices over the network 114.It should be appreciated that the network 114 may include any type ofcomputing network, including a local area network or a wide areanetwork, such as the Internet. The network 114 provides a medium forenabling communication between the communications devices 102, theserver computers 112 and 126, a computer 110, and wireless device 118.

The wireless device 118 may be a hand-held computer. The wireless device118 sends and receives data messages over the network 114 throughcommunication with wireless data gateways 108 and 116. The wireless datagateways 108 and 116 convert data communicated over a wireless datanetwork (not shown) so that it may be communicated over the network 114.The wireless data gateways 108 and 116 may be implemented with wirelessdata gateways known to those skilled in the art.

It will be appreciated that according to illustrative embodiments of theinvention, the wireless device 118 may further include “smart phone”functionality. As appreciated by those skilled in the art, smart phonescombine the functions of a conventional mobile phone with functionalitytypically included in a personal or hand-held computer. Thisfunctionality includes the capability of saving data, executing softwareprograms, sending and receiving e-mail and instant messages, andaccessing Web pages over the Internet.

The wireless device 118 is operative to execute a data recovery/purgeapplication 124. According to illustrative embodiments of the invention,the data recovery/purge application 124 may be utilized to recoverand/or purge saved data from the wireless device 118, e.g., upon thedevice becoming lost or stolen. The data recovery/purge application 124may be executed or invoked upon receiving a message from either of thecommunications devices 102. The message may contain request data foridentifying a lost wireless device, recovering the saved data, purgingthe saved data, recovering and then purging the saved data, or otherinstructions. The request data may also contain a return address, suchas an e-mail address, for sending the recovered data and/or confirmationof a data purge to the wireless devices 102 or to the computer 110. Thefunctions of the data recovery/purge application 124 will be discussedin greater detail below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an illustrative voice communications networkfor performing an alternative illustrative embodiment of the inventionwill be described. As shown in FIG. 2, communications network 200includes communications devices 202 for conducting voice and datacommunications with a switch 230. The communications devices 202 mayinclude a standard wireline telephone set 206 which is connected via asubscriber line to the switch 230. The communications devices 202 alsoinclude a wireless telephone 204 which is in wireless communication witha mobile switching center (“MSC”) 208. The MSC 208 may be utilized tocommunicate the wireless voice traffic from the mobile telephone 204 tothe switch 230 via a wireline connection. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that the switch 230, the MSC 208 and the connections betweenthem and the communications devices 202 may be components in a typicalpublic switched telephone network (“PSTN”). According to illustrativeembodiments of the invention, the switch 230 may be a standard centraloffice circuit switch or a softswitch for routing voice and data trafficin the PSTN.

The communications network 200 also includes a voice node 219 incommunication with the switch 230 and a customer profile database 226.According to illustrative embodiments of the invention, the voice node219 may be a server computer with interactive voice response (“IVR”)functionality. For instance, a customer may utilize an IVR to retrieveup-to-date account information from a bank by entering his or heraccount number on a touch-tone telephone keypad in response to asynthesized voice recording. The IVR will then access a databaseassociated with the bank and retrieve account information associatedwith the customer's account number. The account information may then bepresented to the customer over the telephone via a synthesized voicegenerated by the IVR.

The communications network 200 also includes a network 214. The network214 provides a medium for enabling communication between the voice node219, a computer 210, and wireless device 218. The communication with thewireless device 218 may be enabled through a wireless data gateway 216which converts data communicated over the network 214 so that it iscompatible with a wireless data network (not shown) in communicationwith the wireless device 218. It should be appreciated that the network214 may include any type of computing network, including a local areanetwork or a wide area network, such as the Internet.

The voice node 219 is operative to execute a data recovery/purgeapplication program 224 and an e-mail server program 228. According toillustrative embodiments of the invention, the voice node 219 may beutilized to receive a voice call to a special directory number from theswitch 230 for locating a lost or stolen wireless device in thecommunications network 200. The data recovery/purge application 224 maybe executed or invoked upon the voice node 219 retrieving informationfrom the database 226 associated with a wireless directory number forthe lost or stolen wireless device. The data recovery/purge application224 may receive this information and compose a message to send to thee-mail server program 228 which then sends the message over the network214 to a copy of the data recovery/purge application 224 executed on thewireless device 218. As previously discussed with respect to thewireless device 118 in the description of FIG. 1, the wireless device218 may include smart phone functionality to enable the execution of thedata recovery/purge application 224 as well as other softwareapplication programs.

The message may contain request data for identifying the wirelessdevice, recovering data saved on the wireless devices, purging the saveddata, recovering and then purging the saved data, or other instructions.The request data may also contain a return address, such as an e-mailaddress, for sending the recovered data and/or confirmation of a datapurge to the computer 210. The functions of the data recovery/purgeapplication 224 in the communications network 200 will be discussed ingreater detail below with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, an illustrative routine 300 will be describedillustrating an illustrative process that may be performed by the datarecovery/purge application 124 for recovering data, purging data, andperforming other operations with respect to the wireless device 118 inthe communications network 100, discussed above. When reading thediscussion of the routines presented herein, it should be appreciatedthat the logical operations of various illustrative embodiments of thepresent invention may be implemented (1) as a sequence of computerimplemented acts or program modules running on a computing system and/or(2) as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules withinthe computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependenton the performance requirements of the computing system implementing theinvention. Accordingly, the logical operations illustrated in FIGS.3A-4B, and making up the illustrative embodiments of the presentinvention described herein are referred to variously as operations,structural devices, acts, or modules. It will be recognized by oneskilled in the art that these operations, structural devices, acts, andmodules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special purposedigital logic, and any combination thereof without deviating from thespirit and scope of the present invention as recited within the claimsset forth herein.

The routine 300 begins at operation 305, wherein a user/invoking partyof the communications devices 102 initiates a message to execute thedata recovery/purge application 124 resident in the wireless device 118.In particular, an invoking party in the communications network 100 mayinitiate a message by sending an e-mail message from the hand-heldcomputer 104 or the computer 106 directly to the wireless device 118over the network 114. The e-mail message may include a form comprising anumber of fields of request data which are parsed by the datarecovery/purge application 124 upon receipt of the message. The requestdata fields may include a key field indicating a unique identification(such as the wireless telephone number) of the wireless device beingcontacted, a request type field indicating the type of operation to beperformed by the recovery/data purge application 124, and a datarecovery address which may be an e-mail address for sending recovereddata, a purge confirmation, or other data to the invoking party. Itshould be understood that the message is not limited to an e-mailmessage but may also take the form of a wireless text messages such asSMS messages in addition to various other types of wireless and wirelinemessaging known to those skilled in the art.

From operation 305, the routine 300 continues to operation 310 where themessage from the invoking party is received at the wireless device 118at which time the data recovery/purge application 124 is executed. Forinstance, the wireless device 118 may be preconfigured (i.e.,preprogrammed) to automatically execute the data recovery/purgeapplication 124 each time an e-mail message is received. Once executedthe data recovery/purge application 124 determines if the receivedmessage includes request data as described in detail at operation 315.

From operation 310, the routine 300 continues to operation 315 where thedata recovery/purge application 124 parses the received message from theinvoking party for request data indicating a request to recover data,purge data, or to perform other operations with respect to the wirelessdevice 118. In particular, the recovery/purge application 124 may beconfigured to search for request data fields in an e-mail message sentby the invoking party. For instance, the recovery/purge application 124may initially search for the key field to confirm that the request datain the message is applicable to the wireless device 118.

From operation 315, the routine 300 continues to operation 320 where thedata recovery/purge application 124 compares identification informationin the request data to identification data previously stored in thewireless device 118. In particular, the recovery/purge application 124may search for an identification number in the key field in the requestdata. The identification number may include, for instance, the wirelesstelephone number of the wireless device 118.

If, at operation 320, the recovery/purge application 124 determines thatthe identification data does not match the identification data stored inthe wireless device 118, the routine 300 branches to operation 310 wherethe recovery/purge application 124 waits to receive another message fromthe invoking party. Upon determining a non-match of the identificationdata, the recovery/purge application 124 may further be configured togenerate an alert in a return message to the invoking party indicatingthat the sent identification data does not match the identification datain the wireless device 118.

If, at operation 320, the recovery/purge application 124 determines thatthe identification data matches the identification data stored in thewireless device 118, the routine 300 continues to operation 330. Atoperation 330, the recovery/purge application 124 determines the type ofrequest contained in the request data in the received message from theinvoking party. For instance, the recovery/purge application 124 maysearch a request type field in the received message to identify whethera request was made to recover personal contact data stored in thewireless device 118.

From operation 330, the routine 300 continues to operation 335 where thedata recovery/purge application 124 determines whether the request dataincludes a request to recover the data stored in the wireless device118. If the request data includes a request to recover the data storedin the wireless device 118, the routine 300 continues to operation 340where the data recovery/purge application 124 retrieves the data storedin the wireless device 118. In particular, the data recovery/purgeapplication 124 may access the memory in the wireless device 118 andinitiate commands to make a copy of the stored data. For instance, thedata recovery/purge application 124 may be configured to copy a user'spersonal data, such as telephone and address data, calendar information,passwords, and account numbers from the wireless device 118 into a datafile. The routine 300 then continues to operation 345.

If, at operation 335, the recovery/purge application 124 determines thatthe request data does not include a request to recover the data storedin the wireless device 118, the routine 300 continues to operation 345where the recovery/purge application 124 determines whether the requestdata includes a request to purge the data stored in the wireless device118. If the request data includes a request to purge the data stored inthe wireless device 118, the routine 300 continues to operation 350where the recovery/purge application 124 purges data stored in thewireless device 118. In particular, the data recovery/purge application124 may execute a delete command from a menu in the wireless device 118to purge the stored data. The routine 300 then continues to off-pageconnector A where the routine 300 continues in FIG. 3B. If, at operation335, the recovery/purge application 124 determines that the request datadoes not include a request to purge the data stored in the wirelessdevice 118, the routine 300 continues to off-page connector A where theroutine 300 continues in FIG. 3B.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, the routine 300 continues from off-pageconnector A to operation 355 where the data recovery/purge application124 determines whether the request data includes a request to lock thewireless device 118. If the request data includes a request to lock thewireless device 118, the routine 300 continues to operation 360 wherethe data recovery/purge application 124 locks the wireless device 118.In particular, the data recovery/purge application 124 may access a menuin the wireless device 118 and enter a numerical code, provided by theinvoking party in the request data, to lock the device so that devicefunctions and data are prevented from being accessed by an unknownparty. The routine 300 then continues to operation 365.

If the request data does not include a request to lock the wirelessdevice 118, the routine 300 continues to operation 365 where the datarecovery/purge application 124 determines whether the request dataincludes a request to locate the wireless device 118. If the requestdata includes a request to locate the wireless device 118, the routine300 continues to operation 370 where the data recovery/purge application124 executing on the wireless device 118 retrieves location information.In particular, the data recovery/purge application 124, in response toreceiving a request for location information, may be configured toaccess a menu in the wireless device 118 to retrieve location data suchas Global Positioning System (“GPS”) data (if the wireless device 118includes this feature). The routine 300 then continues to operation 375.

If the request data does not include a request to lock the wirelessdevice 118, the routine 300 continues to operation 375 where the datarecovery/purge application 124 sends a return message to the invokingparty. In particular, the data recovery/purge application 124 mayinitiate and send an e-mail message from the wireless device 118 overthe network 114 to a data recovery address or addresses specified in therequest data sent by the invoking party. It should be appreciated thatthe return address may be a different address than the one from whichthe request data was sent by the invoking party. For instance, theinvoking party may have initiated a recovery and purge request from thecomputer 106 (which may be a home computer) but may wish the recovereddata to be sent to an e-mail address associated with the computer 110(which may be a work computer). Alternatively, the return message may besent to multiple addresses.

The return message may include the recovered data file as an attachmentand an acknowledgement confirming that data was recovered and/or purgedfrom the wireless device 118. In one illustrative embodiment, the datarecovery/purge application 124 may be configured to retry a datarecovery or purge request until successful. The return message may alsoinclude other information requested by the invoking party such as aconfirmation that the wireless device 118 was locked or current locationinformation for the wireless device 118. From operation 375, the routine300 continues to operation 380, where it ends.

Turning now to FIG. 4A, an illustrative routine 400 will be describedillustrating an illustrative process that may be performed by the datarecovery/purge application 224 for recovering data, purging data, andperforming other operations with respect to the wireless devices 218 inthe communications network 200, discussed above. The routine 400 beginsat operation 402, wherein a user/invoking party of the communicationsdevices 202 initiates a message request to execute the datarecovery/purge application 224 resident in the wireless device 218. Inparticular, an invoking party in the communications network 200 mayinitiate a message request by making a voice call to the voice node 219.Upon the completion of the call, the voice node 219 may generatesynthesized voice prompts requesting the telephone number of thewireless device 218 and the type of request or requests (e.g., datarecovery, data purge, device lock, or device location). Once thisinformation is received, the voice node 219 accesses the database 226 toretrieve profile information which may include identification dataassociated with the wireless device 218 and a return address to beincluded in request data received by the data recovery/purge application224.

From operation 402, the routine 400 continues to operation 404 where thevoice node 219 executes the data recovery/purge application 224 whichreceives the request data stored in the database and provided by theinvoking party. In particular, the data recovery/purge application 224receives the identification data, the return address, and the requesttype (or types) for generating a message to send to the wireless device218.

From operation 404, the routine 400 continues to operation 405 where therecovery/purge application 224 executing in the voice node 219 generatesa message to execute the data recovery/purge application 224 resident inthe wireless device 218. In particular, the data recovery/purgeapplication 224 in the voice node may generate an e-mail message whichthe e-mail server program 228 sends directly to the wireless device 218over the network 214. As discussed-above in the description of FIG. 3A,the e-mail message may include a form comprising a number of fields ofrequest data including a key field indicating a unique identification(such as the wireless telephone number) of the wireless device beingcontacted, a request type field indicating the type of operation to beperformed by the recovery/data purge application 224 resident in thewireless device 218, and a data recovery address which may be an e-mailaddress for sending recovered data, a purge confirmation, or other datato the invoking party. Alternatively, the message may also take the formof a wireless text message such as an SMS messages in addition tovarious other types of wireless and wireline messaging known to thoseskilled in the art.

From operation 405, the routine 400 continues to operation 410 where themessage from the invoking party is received at the wireless device 218at which time the data recovery/purge application 224 resident in thewireless device 218 is executed. For instance, the wireless device 218may be preconfigured (i.e., preprogrammed) to automatically execute thedata recovery/purge application 224 each time an e-mail message isreceived. Once executed the data recovery/purge application 224determines if the received message includes request data as described indetail at operation 415.

From operation 410, the routine 400 continues to operation 415 where thedata recovery/purge application 224 parses the received message from theinvoking party for request data indicating a request to recover data,purge data, or to perform other operations with respect to the wirelessdevice 218. In particular, the recovery/purge application 224 may beconfigured to search for request data fields in an e-mail message. Forinstance, the recovery/purge application 224 may initially search forthe key field to confirm that the request data in the message isapplicable to the wireless telephone device 218.

From operation 415, the routine 400 continues to operation 420 where thedata recovery/purge application 224 compares identification informationin the request data to identification data previously stored in thewireless device 218. In particular, the recovery/purge application 224may search for an identification number in the key field in the requestdata. The identification number may include, for instance, the wirelesstelephone number of the wireless device 218.

If, at operation 420, the recovery/purge application 224 determines thatthe identification data does not match the identification data stored inthe wireless device 218, the routine 400 branches to operation 410 wherethe recovery/purge application 224 waits to receive another message.Upon determining a non-match of the identification data, therecovery/purge application 224 may further be configured to generate analert in a return message to the computer 210 associated with theinvoking party indicating that the sent identification data does notmatch the identification data in the wireless device 218.

If, at operation 420, the recovery/purge application 224 determines thatthe identification data matches the identification data stored in thewireless device 218, the routine 400 continues to operation 430. Atoperation 430, the recovery/purge application 224 determines the type ofrequest contained in the request data in the received message from theinvoking party. For instance, the recovery/purge application 224 maysearch a request type field in the received message to identify whethera request was made to recover personal contact data stored in thewireless device 218.

From operation 430, the routine 400 continues to operation 435 where thedata recovery/purge application 224 determines whether the request dataincludes a request to recover the data stored in the wireless device218. If the request data includes a request to recover the data storedin the wireless device 218, the routine 400 continues to operation 440where the data recovery/purge application 224 retrieves the data storedin the wireless device 218. In particular, the data recovery/purgeapplication 224 may access the memory in the wireless device 218 andinitiate commands to make a copy of the stored data. For instance, thedata recovery/purge application 224 may be configured to copy a user'spersonal data, such as telephone and address data, calendar information,passwords, and account numbers from the wireless device 218 into a datafile. The routine 400 then continues to operation 445.

If, at operation 435, the recovery/purge application 224 determines thatthe request data does not include a request to recover the data storedin the wireless device 218, the routine 400 continues to operation 445where the recovery/purge application 224 determines whether the requestdata includes a request to purge the data stored in the wireless device218. If the request data includes a request to purge the data stored inthe wireless device 218, the routine 400 continues to operation 450where the recovery/purge application 224 purges data stored in thewireless device 218. In particular, the data recovery/purge application224 may execute a delete command from a menu in the wireless device 218to purge the stored data. The routine 400 then continues to off-pageconnector A where the routine 400 continues in FIG. 4B. If, at operation435, the recovery/purge application 224 determines that the request datadoes not include a request to purge the data stored in the wirelessdevice 218, the routine 400 continues to off-page connector A where theroutine 400 continues in FIG. 4B.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, the routine 400 continues from off-pageconnector A to operation 455 where the data recovery/purge application224 determines whether the request data includes a request to lock thewireless device 218. If the request data includes a request to lock thewireless device 218, the routine 400 continues to operation 460 wherethe data recovery/purge application 224 locks the wireless device 218.In particular, the data recovery/purge application 224 may access a menuin the wireless device 218 and enter a numerical code, provided by theinvoking party in the request data, to lock the device so that devicefunctions and data are prevented from being accessed by an unknownparty. The routine 400 then continues to operation 465.

If the request data does not include a request to lock the wirelessdevice 218, the routine 400 continues to operation 465 where the datarecovery/purge application 224 determines whether the request dataincludes a request to locate the wireless device 218. If the requestdata includes a request to locate the wireless device 218, the routine400 continues to operation 470 where the data recovery/purge application224 executing on the wireless device 218 retrieves location information.In particular, the data recovery/purge application 224, in response toreceiving a request for location information, may be configured toaccess a menu in the wireless device 218 to retrieve location data, suchas Global Positioning System (“GPS”) data (if the wireless device 218includes this feature). The routine 400 then continues to operation 475.

If the request data does not include a request to lock the wirelessdevice 218, the routine 400 continues to operation 475 where the datarecovery/purge application 224 sends a return message to the invokingparty. In particular, the data recovery/purge application 224 mayinitiate and send an e-mail message from the wireless device 218 overthe network 214 to the data recovery address linked to the invokingparty in the database 226. It should be appreciated that the returnmessage may be sent to multiple addresses.

The return message may include the recovered data file as an attachmentand an acknowledgement confirming that data was recovered and/or purgedfrom the wireless device 218. In one illustrative embodiment, the datarecovery/purge application 224 may be configured to retry a datarecovery or purge request until successful. The return message may alsoinclude other information requested by the invoking party such as aconfirmation that the wireless device 218 was locked or current locationinformation for the wireless device 218. From operation 475, the routine400 continues to operation 480, where it ends.

Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the variousillustrative embodiments of the invention include a system and methodsfor remotely recovering and purging data from a wireless device in acommunications network. The above specification, examples and dataprovide a complete description of the manufacture and use of thecomposition of the invention. Since many illustrative embodiments of theinvention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.

1. A method for remote recovery for use with a wireless device in acommunications network, the method comprising: receiving a message froman invoking party; parsing the message for request data, the requestdata including: received identification data, a request to lock thewireless device including a numerical code, a request to purge devicedata from the wireless device following retrieval of the device data,and at least one data recovery address; determining whether the receivedidentification data in the received message matches residentidentification data in the wireless device; determining that thereceived identification data matches the resident identification data inthe wireless device processing the request data, wherein processing therequest data includes retrieving the device data previously stored by auser in the wireless device, the device data including at least one ofthe following: personal data, address data, calendar data, passworddata, and account data, wherein retrieving the device data includescopying the retrieved device data into a data file, locking the wirelessdevice by accessing a menu on the wireless device and entering thenumerical code to lock the device, purging the device data from thewireless device by accessing a delete command from the menu; and sendinga return message to the invoking party and each data recovery address,the return message including an attachment of the data file comprisingthe device data retrieved from the wireless device and anacknowledgement that the device data is purged from the wireless device;wherein each data recovery address is accessed from a customer profiledatabase in the communications network.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the return message further includes an acknowledgement that thewireless device is locked.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the messagefurther includes a request for location information from the wirelessdevice and wherein the return message further includes the locationinformation for the wireless device.
 4. The method of claim 1, whereinreceiving the message from the invoking party comprises: receiving avoice call in the communications network; receiving a wireless device IDassociated with the wireless device; accessing a database in the datanetwork to map the wireless device ID with a first address associatedwith the wireless device and a second address associated with theinvoking party; and receiving the message at the second addressassociated with the invoking party.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinthe first and second addresses are electronic mail addresses.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the message and the return messages areelectronic mail messages.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the messageand the return messages are text messages.
 8. The method of claim 7,wherein the text messages are short message service (SMS) messages.
 9. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executableinstructions stored thereon which, when executed by a computer, willcause the computer to perform a method for remote recovery for use witha wireless device in a communications network, the method comprising:receiving a message from an invoking party; parsing the message forrequest data, the request data including: received identification data,a request to lock the wireless device including a numerical code, arequest to purge device data from the wireless device followingretrieval of the device data, and at least one data recovery address;determining whether the received identification data in the receivedmessage matches resident identification data in the wireless device;determining that the received identification data matches the residentidentification data in the wireless device; processing the request data,wherein processing the request data includes retrieving the device datapreviously stored by a user in the wireless device, the device dataincluding at least one of the following: personal data, address data,calendar data, password data, and account data, wherein retrieving thedevice data includes copying the retrieved device data into a data file,locking the wireless device by accessing a menu on the wireless deviceand entering the numerical code to lock the device, purging the devicedata from the wireless device by accessing a delete command from themenu, and sending a return message to the invoking party and each datarecovery address, the return message including an attachment of the datafile comprising the device data retrieved from the wireless device andan acknowledgement that the device data is purged from the wirelessdevice; wherein each data recovery address is accessed from a customerprofile database in the communications network.
 10. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the return message furtherincludes an acknowledgement that the wireless device is locked.
 11. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the message furtherincludes a request for location information from the wireless device andwherein the return message further includes the location information forthe wireless device.
 12. The computer-readable medium of claim 9,wherein receiving the message from the invoking party comprises:receiving a voice call in the communications network; receiving awireless device ID associated with the wireless device; accessing adatabase in the data network to map the wireless device ID with a firstaddress associated with the wireless device and a second addressassociated with the request for data recovery; and receiving the messageat the second address associated with the request for data recovery. 13.A system for remote recovery for use with a wireless device in acommunications network, the system comprising: a communications devicefor sending a message to the wireless device; and a data recoveryapplication resident in the wireless device for: receiving the messagefrom the communications device; parsing the message for request data,the request data including: received identification data, a request tolock the wireless device including a numerical code, a request torecover device data from the wireless device, a request to purge thedevice data from the wireless device following retrieval of the devicedata, and at least one data recovery address; determining whether thereceived identification data in the received message matches residentidentification data in the wireless device; determining that thereceived identification data matches the resident identification data inthe wireless device; processing the request data, wherein processing therequest data includes retrieving the resident data previously stored bya user in the wireless device, the resident data including at least oneof the following: personal data, address data, calendar data, passworddata, and account data, wherein retrieving the resident data includescopying the retrieved data into a data file, locking the wireless deviceby accessing a menu on the wireless device and entering the numericalcode to lock the device, purging the resident data from the wirelessdevice by accessing a delete command from the menu, and sending a returnmessage to the invoking party and each data recovery address, the returnmessage including an attachment of the data file comprising the residentdata retrieved from the wireless device and an acknowledgement that theresident data is purged from the wireless device; wherein each datarecovery address is accessed from a customer profile database in thecommunications network.
 14. The system of claim 13 further comprising adata node in communication with the communications device and thewireless device which is operative to: receive a voice call in thecommunications network from the communications device; receive awireless device ID associated with the wireless device from thecommunications device; access a database in communication with the datanode to map the wireless device ID with a first address associated withthe wireless device and a second address; and receive the return messageat the second address.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the first andsecond addresses are electronic mail addresses.
 16. The system of claim13, wherein the message and the return messages are electronic mailmessages.
 17. The system of claim 13, wherein the message and the returnmessages are text messages.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the textmessages are short message service (SMS) messages.
 19. An apparatus forremotely requesting an action to be performed on a wireless device in acommunications network, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving amessage from an invoking party; means for parsing the message forrequest data, the request data including received identification data, arequest to lock the wireless device including a numerical code, arequest for an action to be performed on the wireless device, therequested action including a request to retrieve device data from thewireless device, and at least one data recovery address; means fordetermining whether the received identification data in the receivedmessage matches resident identification data in the wireless device;means for determining that the received identification data matches theresident identification data in the wireless device, means forperforming the requested action, wherein performing the requested actionincludes retrieving the device data previously stored by a user from thewireless device, the device data including at least one of thefollowing: personal data, address data, calendar data, password data,and account data, wherein retrieving the device data from the wirelessdevice includes copying the retrieved device data into a data file, andpurging the device data resident in the wireless device; means forlocking the wireless device, wherein locking the wireless devicecomprises accessing a menu on the wireless device and entering thenumerical code to lock the device, and means for sending a returnmessage acknowledging that the requested action was performed to theinvoking party and each data recovery address, the return messageincluding of the data file comprising the device data retrieved from thewireless device; wherein each data recovery address is accessed from acustomer profile database in the communications network.
 20. Theapparatus of claim 19, wherein the requested action comprises a requestfor location information for the wireless device.
 21. A method forremotely securing a wireless device in a communications network, themethod comprising: receiving a message including request data in thewireless device; parsing the message for the request data, the requestdata including received identification data, a request to lock thewireless device including a numerical code, a request to retrieve devicedata in the wireless device, a request to purge the data from thewireless device, and at least one data recovery address; determiningwhether the received identification data in the received message matchesresident identification data in the wireless device; determining thatthe received identification data matches the resident identificationdata in the wireless device; locking the wireless device by accessing amenu on the wireless device and entering the numerical code to lock thedevice, securing the device data in the wireless device, whereinsecuring the device data includes retrieving the device data previouslystored by a user in the wireless device and purging the device data fromthe wireless device based on the request data by accessing a deletecommand from the menu, the device data including at least one of thefollowing: personal data, address data, calendar data, password data,and account data, and sending a return message to the invoking party andeach data recovery address, the return message including anacknowledgement that the device data is purged from the wireless deviceand an attachment of a data file comprising the retrieved device data;wherein each data recovery address is accessed from a customer profiledatabase in the communications network.
 22. The method of claim 21further comprising retrieving location information for the wirelessdevice based on the request data, and wherein the return message furtherincludes the retrieved location information for the wireless device.